Behind the Scenes

From dentistry to marine biology to lab science, George Pence didn’t have a direct career path, but he ended up finding his niche in a field where he excelled for 43 years. For those whose lives he saved, it was an especially fortunate path.

While many kids fear going to the dentist, George grew up visiting a very entertaining one. He made plans to attend Dartmouth University and follow in his dentist’s footsteps, but then his father died. His grandfather agreed to pay for his college, but only if he stayed local. George attended Lebanon Valley College and earned a degree in biology. Instead of pursuing dentistry school, he took an interest in ecology. Upon the recommendation of one of his professors and mentors, Dr. Wolf, he took a course in marine biology at the University of Delaware. There, a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in micropaleontology, which is the study of microsfossils (those which require a microscope to see), recruited him to take a trip aboard Duke University’s marine lab vessel to explore core holes in the ocean deep. The field of marine biology appealed to George, but not his stomach. He spent much of the trek seasick and, despite breaking his professor’s heart, decided it wasn’t the path for him.

George trained at a local hospital for a year to become certified as a medical technologist. He took a job with Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, serving as hematology supervisor and later administrative director of clinical lab. The role entailed overseeing 42 supervised medical technologists and laboratory technicians seven days a week, for what was “the longest 10 years of my life,” he said, due to the constant on-call environment.

One memorable accomplishment for George was working with a patient who had a rare blood clotting condition. As an experimental procedure, the patient had a heparin pump implanted in her shoulder. She had come to Pennsylvania after being treated at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, and they flew a technician in with her to show George and his team how to perform a procedure to counteract the medicine pump every 90 days.

He also recalls a patient, a pastor, who was in need of type O-negative blood, one of the most indemand types. George and his team were able to find 65 units. These were the moments that made his career, and the long days, the most rewarding.

“There was the challenge of providing lab services to save patients,” he said. “People came into the hospital in crisis — in a diabetic coma or hemorrhaging — and we’d cross match blood to save their lives.

“There are a lot of people working behind the doctors and nurses. No one ever died from lack of blood on my watch. By taxi or plane or however, we got the blood there.”

Outside the lab walls, George spent time with patients obtaining samples. He earned a reputation, especially with kids, for being able to draw blood on the first try, making him a patient favorite. “I was a good stick,” George said.

Seeing firsthand the urgent need for blood, he was also a devoted blood donor. “I was in the 2-gallon club,” he said. “Donations are very important, especially for local blood banks.”

He also served as director of a clinical lab at a women’s health center and retired from Lebanon VA Hospital’s department of laboratory services in 2015.

George’s son followed in his medical field footsteps and took his career to the level of doctor. After serving in the U.S. Army, he is now an anesthesiologist at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center.

“I’m very proud,” George said of his son. “It’s the American dream for your children to do better than you.”

George moved to Masonic Village at Elizabethtown in 2016. His late wife received short-term rehabilitation in the Masonic Health Care Center’s transitional care unit, so he knew it offered great care and wonderful people, as well as a breathtaking campus.

From January through March, he and his partner, Barbara, head to Florida and spend the winter on golf courses. George is also the assistant coach of the Elizabethtown Area High School golf team. Locally, he and Barbara enjoy hiking trails, day trips and riding their electric bikes. He’s fond of fast cars, having owned a GTO, Corvette and Lexus hot rod over the years.

“You have the freedom to do what you want, when you want,” he said of life at Masonic Village. “You can do as little or as much as you want.”

George may have retired his lab coat, but he’ll remain an unsung hero for the countless patients he saved and their families. He followed the right path, and his determination to help those in need made him the perfect man for the job.